Between August 9 and 13, Richard Branson sold 10.4 million shares of his own Virgin Galactic aerospace company. He wants to use the funds coming from this sale to provide financial support to his other businesses.
Since the IPO, Virgin Galactic has sold its owner’s shares for the third time. For the first time, Branson’s company took public through the SPAC in 2019. The sales worth was $504.5 million in 2020 and $150.3 million this year.
Virgin Galactic states that its shares were valued in the range between $25,75 and $34,39 apiece according to the SEC filing. InsiderScore estimated the deal at $300 million.
On Monday, August 16, Virgin Galactic shares slipped 3% compared to the last close at $25,94 per share. The Virgin Group – a Virgin Galactic parent company – reported that it “intends to use the net proceeds from this sale to support its portfolio of global leisure, holiday and travel businesses.” The company’s headquarters said these sectors were severely affected by the pandemic.
Notably, by this sale Branson has refunded $950 million of his investment in the aerospace company. According to the SEC filing, Virgin Galactic attracted more than $1 billion in investment.
